On February 13, 'Grafted' hits Russian theaters, a bold attempt to combine genre horror tropes with social criticism, which, however, stumbles over its own ambitions.

What is scarier—the monster under the bed or what we are willing to do to ourselves for the approval of others? 'Grafted' (yes, there is a substance in the film, but no connection to ) is a mirror for our society obsessed with beauty standards and social recognition. This leads to the obvious thought that the film tries to be something more than just another youth body horror. Did it succeed? Let's find out.

Anya Kulakova

You Can't Run from Yourself: Review of the Film 'The Substance'

Winner of the Best Screenplay award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, 'The Substance' was released in Russian theaters on September 19. In our article, we discuss the nature of fear in this film

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Wei (Joyena Sun), a genius outcast with a face 'marred' by a birthmark, arrives in New Zealand to continue the experiments of her deceased father—a scientist who died trying to 'fix' his own skin. Her mission? To become perfect, even if it means peeling off a few other people's faces.

University life, however, reminds her that society is far scarier than the laboratory: her cousin Angela (Jess Hong) and her clique of glamorous hyenas openly mock her 'flaws,' and predatory professor Paul (Jared Turner) steals her research. In the end, Wei sets off a chain reaction of skin grafts, revenge, and moral decay.

It seems that the film 'Grafted' was pitched to producers as a story about turning university bullying into an arthouse hell. Something like 'Mean Girls,' but with bloody bacchanalia. Therefore, the directorial debut of Sasha Rainbow turned out to be a mix of body horror, social satire, and student drama.

Joyena Sun's character balances between naivety and psychopathy, and each of her grimaces seems to scream: 'I just wanted to be liked!' Particularly successful are the scenes where she, like a hungry but not aggressive zombie, watches the lives of 'normal' people, her eyes reflecting a mixture of envy and disgust.

Jess Hong as Angela is the embodiment of toxic pop culture: her smile is sharper than a scalpel, and her contempt for her roots is so vivid that you want to call an exorcist.

In general, if you look closely, there are many contrasts here. For example, the university corridors look sterile, like an operating room, while the apartment of Aunt Lin, where Wei and Angela live, resembles an ancient sorcerer's shop cluttered with strange plants and family secrets. And the violence scenes are stylized as art installations: when Wei works with a drill, it seems like a performance on the theme of 'Survival in the TikTok era.' Or ASMR for maniacs. Whatever suits you.

However, despite significant merits in terms of horror entertainment and narrative subtexts, there are equally irritating elements. For example, the secondary characters often look like caricatures of modern influencers, creating a sense of artificiality. Their dialogues are especially annoying, resembling a set of clichés from social networks.

The same applies to some cinematographic decisions. The camera periodically seems to lose focus, and some shots appear deliberately strange, which distracts rather than enhances the immersion into psychological and physical hell.

And all this adds up to the overall impression that Rainbow couldn't handle her own ambitions. The film touches on important themes such as dependence on social recognition and the standardization of beauty, but sometimes does so too straightforwardly in narrative and equally carelessly in technique. That very unevenness inherent in many debutants who want to impress with their first work.

Nevertheless, 'Grafted' is an engaging film not for the faint of heart or lovers of happy endings. It is a crude but elegant parable about how inner demons can come out—literally. Rainbow managed to create an intriguing canvas where every drop of blood is a spit in the face of a society obsessed with appearance.

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